Thursday, September 26, 2013

In 1997, the Los Angeles office of advertising agency
TBWA\Chiat\Day created Apple Computer’s “Think Different” slogan, and an
accompanying campaign inaugurated with a now historic TV ad. “Here’s to the crazy ones,” Richard Dreyfuss narrated,
in a salute to the geniuses and innovators who have changed the world. The spot won raves from critics, and the 1998
Emmy for Best Commercial.

Now, CBS brings us The
Crazy Ones, a new advertising-set sitcom which cleverly can be viewed as both
an homage to and a lampooning of such self-serious salesmanship. And with its cunning conceit and all-star
cast, the new show is poised to bring the same type of “crazy” energy, and
similar accolades, to the genre of half-hour comedy.

The brainchild of John Montgomery, the Executive Creative
Director of Chicago ad agency Leo Burnett, and nurtured by accomplished
executive producer David E. Kelley, The
Crazy Ones snagged Oscar winner Robin Williams for his long-awaited return
to series television. Williams’ hyperkinetic
character Simon Roberts is “an idea guy who’s been on everything but skates,” says
the 62-year-old comedy icon. “I watched
a documentary about ad guys, and a lot of them live on the edge. Their whole job is to think outside the
envelope, and at the same time get an idea down to the simplest, purest image,
to fight for your consciousness.”

“And,” Williams adds, “they can be kind of crazy.” That’s where Simon’s daughter Sydney, his
partner at their joint small agency, comes in.
After seasons of slaying vampires as Buffy, Sarah Michelle Gellar says
she was happy to become the organized, ambitious and Type-A Sydney, whose task
of wrangling her unfocused father, while finding her own place in the industry
he dominates, may be just as exhausting.
“To me, some of the greatest parts of Buffy were the funny moments,” Gellar explains of stepping into
this lighter role. “And I got to a point
where I thought, ‘I’ve cried a lot. I’m
ready to be funny.’”

Helping to make that happen is Bill D’Elia, himself a
longtime New York ad man turned TV writer, and now one of The Crazy Ones’ executive producers. The inspiration for Montgomery’s pilot
script, he explains, “was this idea to have fun with how we create
advertising. Not to denigrate the
products, but the process, and [as ad execs] ourselves.” With a pitch like that, it’s easy to see
while real-life clients are clamoring to come on board; The Crazy Ones features McDonalds in its pilot, and D’Elia expects
to recruit two or three more real brands, “plus a few fictitious ones thrown
in,” to round out Roberts & Roberts’ roster.

But, the producer insists, The Crazy Ones’ appeal ultimately comes not just from the
craftiness of its concept, but from the chemistry of its cast. From the start, D’Elia says, “Everyone has
felt like they’ve been together for a long time. Robin and Sarah feel like real father and
daughter.” And coworkers played by
Hamish Linklater and James Wolk – fresh off his season on that other crazy/advertising show, Mad Men – have already proven themselves
more than capable of keeping up with Williams, the king of comedic improv.

As Williams agrees, “All these people can go one-on-one, and
riff just as well.” But with The Crazy Ones, he notes, “I am often on
script because the script is so good.”
The actor credits the show’s quality to its writers and advisors, many
of whom are “real ad agency execs, who tell us stories that are just insane.” Of course, Williams and Gellar might be able to
contribute some stories of their own; Williams recently shilled for Snickers,
and Gellar has done over 100 commercials – including, at age 7, a spot for
Duncan Hines cake mix, directed by D’Elia.
It goes to prove, she adds, that it’s just all one, small Crazy world.

In television, Jim co-created an original animated pilot for the Disney Channel, and contributed comic material to four annual Oscar-themed comedy specials airing on Comedy Central, hosted by his husband, Frank DeCaro of The Daily Show With Jon Stewart. In 2010, Jim and Frank's comedic music video with Fredrick Ford, "Betty White Lines" went viral, and was featured on The Today Show and CNN's Showbiz Tonight.

Jim has written for entertainment media since his days as the Film Editor for The Daily Pennsylvanian, the college newspaper at the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated with a degree in marketing from the Wharton School of Business. Originally from Wayne, New Jersey, he now lives in Los Angeles with Frank and their mischievous Boston terrier, Gabby.